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Bob Harper seems to be the epitome of fitness perfection. His svelte physique is the Olympic ideal, and it draws countless people to his workout videos, motivational speeches and hit television show.

Harper, a trainer on the "The Biggest Loser," admits being self-reliant to a fault and wants to do everything right. His perfectionism even translates to his own fitness routine. Even on the days when he thinks he is doing a CrossFit workout particularly well, he'll notice someone else who he feels is working out better than he is.

That drive for perfection masks his own feelings of inadequacy, Harper admitted during a recent interview with former "Biggest Loser" co-star Jillian Michaels on her new YouTube show "Daily Dose With Jillian Michaels."

"The hardest thing for me to overcome in my life is that need for perfection," Harper said. "It's impossible...I want to be able to do everything right.

Oddly, it's the recognition that others can do things better than him that helps Harper deal with his perfectionism. It is the realization that he isn't going to always be the best at everything "makes me face my demons," he says.

Harper explains that his feelings of inadequacy stem from a childhood of not quite fitting in, not feeling loved. Harper, the youngest and the only boy in a family of three children, grew up on a farm in Tennessee. He lived in the basement of the family home, earning him the nickname "Basement Bobby."

When Harper was in seventh grade, his parents divorced, and his father, who had been carrying on an affair, married his mistress, who had three kids. It was his father's leaving that really made Harper believe he had to fend for himself.

"He went and got a whole other family," he says. "Talk about being inadequate, being not enough. It taught me to be very self-reliant. I have always had to make sure that, like, I was okay in a situation. If you grow up in a world when you have to always have your own back -- that's kind of what my childhood taught me, for better or for worse."

It was those childhood struggles that give him a lot of empathy for the underdog. It allows him to feel the pain and suffering of the "Biggest Loser" contestants -- something that was difficult for him to deal with when the show first started.

"Biggest Loser" "really did a number on me in the beginning because I didn't have the tools to take care of myself and keep a boundary. I remember getting on the boat with those contestants. I remember getting on the boat with all their pain and all their suffering, and I felt it, too," he told Michaels. "It's like, 'Oh my God, I’m with you. You’re 400 pounds. Your parents didn’t love you enough. You have all this self-loathing and self-doubt.' "

Harper says as their coach, he has "to find that one little light in that soul [of the contestant] and just nurture that light. That's what I had to do for myself."

"My light was and continues to be that empathy. I always knew who I was and I always knew what I wanted to do, and I wasn't going to let this game beat me," he continues. "I could have fallen by the wayside. I could have been a statistic. I could have just been this guy that just had a bad childhood and lived a life as a result of that, or I could have turned it around. And I knew that in my head, I wasn't going to let that get the best of me."

Like Harper, many people struggle with ideals of perfectionism. They don't feel good enough, pretty enough, smart enough, etc. Dr. Judith Orloff, author of The New York Times bestseller “Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself From Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life,” says that while striving to be better is a commendable trait, people have to be careful not to let it become an obsession.

“Perfectionists can suffer from depression, anxiety, insomnia and excessive worry,” she says. “They get very obsessed with being perfect because they feel like they have done something wrong and are not good enough.”

Below she shares her tips for how to overcome perfectionism.

Practice Gratitude: Once or twice a week, write down five things you are thankful for. These can be simple things, such as good health, great friends and a gorgeous day. Otherwise, your mind will run away with negative thoughts.

Do what you can: Keep your expectations realistic. If you have 20 things to do in a day and there is no way to complete all of them, focus on two tasks and make that enough.

Learn to accept imperfection: Perfectionists are incredibly hard on themselves. I have a patient who got a “B” on a test and thought she was a failure. Imperfection is part of being human. When you love someone, you love them for who they are – not because they are perfect.

Develop self-compassion: Give yourself positive feedback for what you have done well. It’s like being your own best friend. And the other side of that is to be very compassionate if you made a mistake. You want to see that glass as half full – not half empty. People who are perfectionists focus on the half empty part, and they are miserable.

Challenge your thoughts: When you start to criticize yourself, pause, take a breath and immediately replace that thought with something more positive. Do not give those thoughts any mileage. If it helps, write down perfectionist thoughts in a journal and a rational response to them.

Stop being envious: Comparing yourself to others contributes to the torment of perfectionism. Realize that there is enough abundance for everybody. Also, keep in mind that you are comparing yourself to an illusion. You don’t know who that person is. No one has the perfect life.

Embrace mistakes: If someone makes a mistake, are you going to berate them? No, you’re going to be positive. When one of my patients makes a mistake, such as a relapse with alcohol or drugs, I don’t criticize them. It’s their process. Go easy on yourself like others would go easy on you.

Surround yourself with non-perfectionists: Find people you want to emulate, people who are leading happy lives and not beating themselves up. They can serve as positive role models.

Find balance in your life: Take time to relax. Meditate. Exercise. You want to do something that gets the endorphins flowing and decreases the stress hormones. If you are a perfectionist, your stress hormones are aging you and negatively affecting your immune system.

You can check out new episodes of "Daily Dose With Jillian Michaels" each day at noon EST.

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